Education policy must "reach out" and connect to its economic and social environment, the IDA chief executive, Mr Sean Dorgan said yesterday.
Speaking at a major OECD conference yesterday, he said , education policy can be too introspective and adrift from the needs of society.
"Is education too often a separate sector? Is education policy too introspective, perhaps overwhelmed by the enormity of its impact?" he asked. In his presentation, Mr Dorgan told 80 delegates from dozens of OECD countries how the Republic was now reaping the dividend of investment in education.
The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, paid tribute to the work of the OECD in acting as a catalyst for change in Irish education policy. The current priority in the Republic, he said, was to combat educational disadvantage.
"I think we have a broadly successful education system, but in this area we need to do more."
Mr Dempsey hinted at a major overhaul of policy in the area. At present, he said there was too much duplication of resources with no less than seven separate schemes at primary level and five at second-level targeting the problem. He was looking to the Education Disadvantage Committee to bring forward new proposals.
The new Department of Education standing committee on education disadvantage would also help to frame policy, he said.
The secretary general of the Department of Education and Science, Mr John Dennehy, is the current chairperson of the OECD Education Committee.
He listed his main priorities for Irish education policy which include social cohesion, quality assurance and the whole question of funding for higher level.
Mr Barry McGaw, head of the newly formed OECD Directorate for Education, said the organisation tended not to prescribe particular policies.
It does not, for example, say whether school league tables are a good or a bad thing. Instead, there was a peer process where individual states looked at what was working elsewhere and adapted it to their own needs, he said.
The OECD's Pisa survey which records the standards attained by 15 year-olds has had a major bearing on education policy. The Republic achieved generally strong scores in the most recent survey.
But states like Germany which recorded poor results are now looking to imitate the work of other more successful education systems.
Mr Donald Johnston, OECD secretary general, said the organisation worked in this way. Each country was working to help the other, he said.
The OECD's real strength is when countries look at our reports and see what is working best, he said.